LIKELY QUESTIONS

- Walk me through your ICU experience, including patient acuity, unit type, and your main clinical responsibilities.
- How do you assess a critically ill patient at the beginning of a shift and identify immediate priorities?
- Describe your experience caring for ventilated patients, including airway management, sedation monitoring, and prevention of ventilator-associated complications.
- How do you recognise and respond to sudden deterioration, such as sepsis, respiratory failure, arrhythmia, or haemodynamic instability?
- Tell us about your experience with invasive monitoring, such as arterial lines, central venous lines, and ECG monitoring.
- How do you safely manage multiple high-acuity patients while maintaining accurate documentation and medication safety?
- How would you communicate an urgent clinical concern to a physician or multidisciplinary team, especially if German is not yet your strongest language?
- Why do you want to relocate to Munich and work in this ICU role, and how are you preparing for German language and professional integration?

BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS

- Tell me about a time you identified a subtle change in an ICU patient's condition before it became an emergency.
Model approach: Situation: Briefly describe a critically ill patient whose observations or behaviour changed unexpectedly. Task: Explain your responsibility for monitoring, assessment, and escalation. Action: Describe the specific signs you noticed, your reassessment, immediate interventions within your scope, use of SBAR, and how you involved the physician/team. Result: State the patient outcome and what you learned about vigilance and early escalation.

- Describe a time you had to remain calm during a high-pressure emergency in the ICU.
Model approach: Situation: Set the scene, such as a cardiac arrest, acute respiratory deterioration, massive bleeding, or sudden shock. Task: Explain your assigned role in the emergency. Action: Detail how you followed protocols, communicated clearly, prioritised safety, delegated where appropriate, and documented or debriefed afterwards. Result: Explain the outcome and demonstrate calm decision-making, teamwork, and reflection.

- Give an example of a disagreement or communication challenge with a colleague or physician.
Model approach: Situation: Describe a professional difference of opinion relating to patient care, workload, or communication. Task: Clarify your goal: protecting the patient while maintaining respectful collaboration. Action: Explain how you used facts, clinical observations, active listening, and an escalation process if needed. Result: Share the resolution, patient-care impact, and what the experience taught you about multidisciplinary communication.

- Tell me about a time you supported a distressed patient family in a critical-care situation.
Model approach: Situation: Describe a family facing uncertainty, deterioration, or a complex ICU admission. Task: Explain your responsibility to provide compassionate, accurate, and appropriate communication. Action: Describe how you assessed their needs, used clear non-technical language, maintained confidentiality, involved the wider team, and checked understanding. Result: Explain how the family was supported and how you balanced empathy with professional boundaries.

SMART QUESTIONS TO ASK

- What types of ICU patients does the unit care for most frequently, such as medical, surgical, cardiac, neurological, or trauma patients?
- What is the usual nurse-to-patient ratio, and how does staffing change for patients requiring one-to-one care?
- What orientation, competency assessment, and mentorship are provided for internationally recruited ICU nurses?
- How does the hospital support nurses in progressing from B1 to B2 German and in learning clinical documentation and communication standards used on the unit?
- What are the expectations for shift patterns, on-call work, weekend duties, and professional development during the first year?

RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR

- Vague answers about nurse-to-patient ratios, overtime, break coverage, or how the unit manages staff shortages.
- No clear explanation of recognition of your nursing qualification, support for professional registration, German language requirements, or who pays associated costs.
- Pressure to sign quickly, unclear salary deductions or accommodation charges, or reluctance to provide the permanent contract and relocation terms in writing.